Four more female Israeli hostages will be freed this weekend, Hamas says
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Announcement comes as Donald Trump says he is not confident ceasefire deal will hold. Hamas has said four more female Israeli hostages will be freed this weekend in return for Palestinian prisoners, as the new US president, Donald Trump, said he was not confident that the ceasefire deal that he personally insisted on would hold.
The next group of hostages due to be released is expected to include captured female Israeli soldiers, who will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners serving more lengthy sentences who are being held in Israeli jails, some of whom will be deported to third countries.
With the release of three women on Sunday, seven Israeli women remain on the list of the initial group of 33 hostages designated for release in the first phase of the three-part ceasefire agreement, which includes women, children, elderly and sick people.
Five of those remaining women are soldiers who were captured on 7 October 2023 during Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israeli communities close to the Gaza border. Although Hamas has not notified mediators in Qatar of the names of hostages to be released, the speculation in the Israeli media is that it will include one civilian and three IDF spotters captured in Nahal Oz.
The arrangements for the release are expected to be largely similar to last week with Hamas delivering hostages to the Red Cross to be conveyed to Israeli forces still in Gaza and then Palestinian prisoners being released from jail hours later. The Hamas statement came as David Barnea, head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence organisation; and Ronen Bar, the head of the domestic security agency, the Shin Bet; visited Cairo on Monday, to meet Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss how Palestinian prisoners would be deported as part of the deal.
